Date: Thu, 21 Dec 1995 10:11:21 -0500
From: Allan Metcalf
Subject: WOTY from the Algeos
AS usual, ADS will choose Words of the Year at next week's annual meeting. We
expect to post the final nominees after they're chosen Thursday the 28th.
Meanwhile, here are the nominations from John and Adele Algeo. Your comments
are welcome. - Allan Metcalf
***************************
Our nominations for the various New Words of 1995 are the
following. We have no single nomination to make, but World Wide Web
(WWW, W3) seems to us to be clearly the most important of these items
and the one that will have the greatest future impact, on both language
and society. It is not "new" this year in "real time" but is a "new
word" by our stipulated definition, namely it is not listed in the
printings we have of any of our ten dictionaries of record. Electronic
communication and storage continues to be the most salient source of
neologisms, but in the following list we have tried to include words
from a number of other fields of discourse for variety.
anxious class A category of middle-class persons worried
about their economic security
applet [appl(ication) + -et] A small software program, such
as a calendar, memo pad, or card game; or a piece of a larger program
that can be retrieved on a network computer, used, and discarded
afterwards
Astroturf Organized public response to a political issue
appearing to be a "grass-roots" movement but instead created by
special-interest advertising
beat down A beating delivered to a gang member as a part of a
ritual, as for initiation or resignation
big box A large chain store specializing in one kind of
merchandise; a "category killer"
coho A house or unit in a cohousing development, in which
residents live in separate units clustered around a common building
used for activities such as social events, laundry, and dining
copyleft A prohibition against making a profit from
distributing the source code of free computer software
corporate welfare Government economic support of corporate
business
drive-through delivery A shortened hospital stay for
childbirth required by some insurance companies
Easter egg An unexpected operation programmed into commercial
software as a joke and activated by a secret command
EGG, Evaporating Gaseous Globule A mass of gas inside which
stars are formed
EQ; emotional intelligence The ability to manage one's
emotions, seen as a factor in achievement
Generation Y The generation following Generation X; the
post-post-Baby Boomers
go postal [from a number of shootings by postal workers in
post offices] To act irrationally, especially violently, from
stress and frustration in the workplace
gustnado A tornado-like vortex on the approaching edge of a
thunderstorm
hotlink A computer connection made directly by clicking on a
screen icon
legacy Of computer hardware and software, obsolescent but
still in use
leptin A hormone that removes fat from the body
meme A unit of cultural information that spreads from mind to
mind like a virus and propagates itself like a gene
metadata Information useful for locating other information,
especially on the Internet; meta-information
meta-information Data useful for locating other data,
especially on the Internet; metadata
mindblind Unable to receive, process, or respond to certain
social situations, a condition associated with autism
mind virus A unit of cultural information that induces
obsessive behavior on the part of those who receive it
mouse potato A computer couch potato; one who uses the
computer obsessively, frequently, or for prolonged periods
multiculti Multicultural
nag screen A computer message reminding the user to take some
action, especially to make a payment for shareware
nastygram An unwelcome message received on the Internet
network computer An "information appliance," now in its
prototype stage, consisting of a monitor, keyboard, mouse and modem
connection, directly accessing an Internet server, from which software
will be downloaded and on which files will be stored, thus eliminating
the need for an individual PC and hard drive and available at a
fraction of the initial cost of a conventional PC
Newt A formative alluding, usually uncomplimentarily, to
Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, as in Newt Age, Newt Dealer, Newt
kids on the block, Newt World Order, Newt-o-nomics, Newtian, Newtie,
Newtoid, Newtomania, Newtonian, Newtopia, Newtphobia, Newtritional,
Newtron bomb, Newtspeak, Newtster, NewtWatch, Newtworking, Newty Boy,
also femiNewtie, King Newt
outworking [cf OED outwork 'work done outside a factory';
outworker 'one who does outwork'] Of west European and American
businesses, operating manufacturing plants in countries of the world,
such as eastern Europe, where labor costs are lower than in the country
of the company's headquarters
overclass A highly educated and economically privileged class
password sniffer A secret computer program that records the
names and passwords of users of a network
queue jockey A telephone operator on a computer technical
support number who plays music and informs callers how long they can
expect to wait for a technician
spinning also RPM Riding a stationary racing bicycle as a form
of exercise while listening to music
spoofing Impersonating another computer terminal in order to
gain access illegally to information from a network intended for the
impersonated terminal
superatom An artificial state of matter consisting of atoms
of rubidium gas cooled to nearly absolute zero, at which temperature
the atoms lose their separate identities and form a single whole
Tejano A Texas-Mexican style of music featuring the accordion
trunking Locking the owner of a stolen car in its trunk
before joyriding and abandoning the car with the owner still in the
trunk
Web-gram An electronic message posted on an "Electric
Postcard" World Wide Web site, retrievable from it upon notification by
e-mail
webliography Bibliography of materials on the Internet
webmaster An expert in the use of the World Wide Web
Webzine A magazine on the World Wide Web
World Wide Web; WWW; W3 A hypermedia information storage
system linking resources around the world, accessible by computer modem
zone out To relax by engaging in mindless activity like TV
watching or spinning